This invention has as an exemplary object to provide a device to progressively break the woody shell, particularly of fruits of the drupe type. For example, a walnut is a known fruit of this type.
The invention finds particular, if not exclusive, application in the field of kitchen tools and daily use household objects.
Tasty fruit is often seasoned or submitted to drying processes, so as to be classified as dried fruit. Filberts, peanuts, almonds, dates not from palms, form part of the category of foodstuffs to which this invention is directed.
A characteristic that is shared by these fruits is the fact that they are put on the market in a particular condition where, as in the case of the walnut, the hull remains as a robust woody shell that encompasses a kernel. The kernel may be an edible pseudo-pulpous mesocarp substantially dry, as in the case of walnuts.
The particular shape and fibrous structure of the shell, confers to the walnut, and other fruits and nuts of this type, a good mechanical resistance, so as to require the consumer, in order to access the kernel, to use a suitable tool, better known as a nutcracker.
Utilized in a somewhat different way around the world and generally known, the nutcracker belongs to the family of kitchen tools having substantially remained unaltered in their structure. Changes are sometimes observed in these nutcrackers, specifically with respect to the design, or alternatively in the use of plastic materials in place of more common materials, such as metal.
A nutcracker of the conventional type is essentially made up of two specular, or mirror-image, levers having a kind of jaw, hinged to a common end. Each lever includes on the inside face a shape so as to be subdivided into two parts, respectively. A first part is next to the hinging and is used to vice part of the fruit, and a second part comprises part of the handle.
In more detail, each lever can have a slightly arched shape, in such a way that along the upper surface of the second part, a convenient grip surface is located, often knurled and somewhat extended. Such a surface may also be obtained by applying, in a wrapping way, a non-skid plastic material to the grip surface.
Along the inside faces of the two levers so coupled, and in proximity to the hinging, each lever has a hemispherical shape, again specular to each other. In some cases each face has a certain thickness, such that when reapproached toward each other, they define substantially the outline of a small walnut. Variations of the known device can include the presence of a second hemisphere adjacent to the first and generally of smaller size to allow the breakage of a dry fruit shell of another size.
Finally, a toothing may be provided along the border of both the clamping hemispheres, with the purpose being to confer a greater grip capacity followed by a breakage of the shell.
Thus, the consumer, to use this nutcracker, must open the two levers, an operation generally conducted with two hands, introduce the walnut or other fruit in the suitable seat, maintain the nutcracker open with one hand and then close the two levers so as to steadily hold the walnut or fruit. At this point, by progressively applying increasing force, the consumer achieves the breakage of the shell and a total reapproach of the two opposed hemispheres occurs.
The drawbacks of the currently employed solution are known. First, the fact that in order to compress the walnut with force, often one is not able to control the intensity. Additionally, because the giving-in of the shell is almost sudden, the complete reapproach of the two levers occurs. This condition, in the best of situations, results in a crack of the kernel also, which, because of the fact that it is dry, tends to shatter in small pieces of pulp mixed with the fragments of the shell. The consumer, therefore, must select one by one the more evident edible parts, throwing away all the rest.
Other than the obvious waste that results, the available tools for household use today do not allow for maintaining the kernel intact, which one may require in order to garnish a cake or the like. Therefore, the current device does not function to achieve aesthetic results either.
A second drawback is due to the fact that in certain cases the shells are indeed resistant, to such an extent that a bending of the respective levers in the compression phase occurs without obtaining any breakage. In that case, the consumer must resort to the use of two hands, with the fingers open and one opposite the other, in order to exert a greater force, as is the case, for example, of persons who are generally weaker, such as the elderly and women. The result, in conclusion, is a more uncontrolled giving-in of the shell, again fragmenting the kernel into numerous small pieces.
A third, but not final, drawback is due to the excessive opening imposed by the nutcracker when the respective jaws have viced the fruit. The difficulty in exerting the force necessary to break the shell appears therefore inherent, as this must be accomplished through action of the fingers alone, specifically thumb-index, without using the whole palm of the hand. In the case of small hands, for example children's hands, breaking the nuts will result in an operation more difficult than anticipated. Thus, it is necessary to resort to the use of two hands, as discussed above. Alternatively, the device could be gripped in proximity to the hinging, but this presents the danger of injury to the fingers.